WHITE PLAINS, NY — Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino joined partners from Pace University and the David and Minnie Burke Foundation as well as other sponsors in congratulating the winners of the first Westchester Smart Mobile App Development Bowl held on April 17.
More than 150 students from throughout the tri-state area gathered at Pace University’s Kessel Student Center to present their final projects to a panel of professional judges. For the past two months, students have been working on developing mobile apps to help patients with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Astorino, along with Dr. Amar Gupta, Dean of the Seidenberg School of Computer Science & Information Systems at Pace University, and William McGrath, Senior Vice President and COO of Pace University’s Westchester Campuses, were proud to announce Team ASSIST, a brother and sister duo from Yorktown Heights, as the grand prize winners. Lindsay Aldrich is a junior at Yorktown High School and Mark Aldrich is a freshman at Soundview Preparatory School in Yorktown Heights.
The winning application makes it easier for caregivers to help patients and their families by organizing tasks and sharing responsibilities among each other. The application includes intuitive capabilities such as an “unfrazzle” feature that makes it easy to use and understand.
The pair received $1,000 in cash as well as a camcorder, camera and headphones donated by Panasonic. They will also be honored at Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino’s State of the County address on Wednesday, April 22.
“What’s happening here today is truly special. Here our best and brightest are demonstrating the ingenuity and goodness of an emerging generation. The students here are what we proudly call Westchester Smart,” said Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino in his address to the students at the awards ceremony. “Their mission was clear: Develop a mobile application that will aid people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. How wonderful is it to see members of a younger generation burning the midnight oil to help ease the burdens of men and women at their twilight.”
In addition to the grand prize, cash prizes of $500, $350 and $150 were awarded in four different categories. The winning teams in each category were:
Mobile App Caregiver Award
First Place: ASSIST (App Specialists in Science and Technology)/Soundview Preparatory School
Second Place: The Koding Kidz/Fox Lane High School
Third Place: Mamaroneck Tigers/Mamaroneck High School
Mobile App Creativity Award
First Place: Silver Cross/Pace University
Second Place: Mamaroneck Tigers/Mamaroneck High School
Third Place: LumInosiTy/St. Francis Preparatory School
Mobile App Alzheimer’s Association Functionality Award
First Place: LumInosiTy/St. Francis Preparatory School
Second Place: The Koding Kidz/Fox Lane High School
Third Place: Independents/Ossining High School, Suffolk County Community College and Manhattanville College
Mobile App Tata Usability Award
First Place: The Koding Kidz/Fox Lane High School
Second Place: Mamaroneck Tigers/Mamaroneck High School
Third Place: Independents/Ossining High School, Suffolk County Community College and Manhattanville College
Teams from the following schools were finalists in the competition: Blind Brook High School, Fox Lane High School, Lakeland High School, Lincoln High School, Mamaroneck High School, Manhattanville College, Monroe College, Mount Vernon High School, Nellie A. Thornton High School, Ossining High School, Pace University, Rye High School, St. Francis Preparatory School, Solomon Schechter School of Westchester, Soundview Preparatory School, Suffolk County Community College, The College of Westchester, Walter Panas High School and Westlake High School.
The following organizations provided judges for the competition: Alzheimer’s Association (Hudson Valley/Rockland/Westchester NY Chapter), Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Burke Rehabilitation & Research, Caregiver Collaborative/Pace University, Health Remedy Media, IBM, ImageWork Technologies, Infra-Scale, Mindspark, Mount Vernon Educational Foundation, NewYork Presbyterian Westchester Division, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Phelps Memorial Hospital Center, Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems/Pace University, Stryker Orthopedics, Tata Consultancy Services, The Bristal Assisted Living, Westchester County (Department of Senior Programs, Department of Information Technology and Department of Social Services),Yorktel and XL Group.
Program sponsors were: Burke Rehabilitation & Research, Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, Alzheimer’s Association, Livable Communities Caregiver Collaborative, The Bristal Assisted Living, Nancy Goodman of the David & Minnie Berk Foundation, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Liberty Lines, NewYork Presbyterian Westchester Division, Ursuline Foley of the Seidenberg Advisory Board, Mount Vernon Educational Foundation and Remedy Health Media.
Photo (left to right): Dr. Steve Safier, president, Health and Wellness Solutions for Panasonic North America; Dr. Jean Coppola, associate professor of Information Technology, Seidenberg School of Computer Science & Information Systems at Pace University; Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino; Mark Aldrich, Yorktown Heights resident and freshman at Soundview Preparatory School; Lindsay Aldrich, Yorktown Heights resident and junior at Yorktown High School; Dr. Amar Gupta, dean, Seidenberg School of Computer Science & Information Systems at Pace University; William McGrath, senior vice president and COO, Pace University’s Westchester Campuses.
